Recreation & Culture

Sister City program

The Sister City relationship between Gladstone and Saiki City was established in 1996. The Sister City movement is a worldwide concept, which originated in the United States of America shortly after World War II - a period in history, like now, where people wanted to focus on community values and exchanges to encourage international understanding and ultimately world peace.

The principles of furthering communication and exchanges at a person-to-person level through City-to-City affiliations was adopted by Australia in 1980 when the Australian Sister City Association was founded. Today there are some 200 municipalities across Australia that have over 460 overseas affiliations. ASCA is part of an international effort to encourage understanding and co-operation by promoting communication and exchanges between ordinary citizens from different nationalities and cultures.

Saiki City, in Oita Prefecture, is located on Japan's southern island of Kyushu, about 780 km south-west of Tokyo, and 150km east of Fukuoka City. It is the fifth largest city in the eastern prefecture of Oita, and the centre of the south-east region of Oita. Saiki is pleasantly located on Saiki bay, part of the Bungo Channel that feeds the Inland Sea of Japan (Setonaikai).

Situated on the coastline, Saiki experiences mild weather all year round, due to the influence of the warm currents along the Bungo Channel. Rainfall is most prevalent from June to early July, and the chance of snow is limited.